Slovenian Startup ReCatalyst, a start-up supported by EIT RawMaterials was able to convince an outstanding international group consisting of HTGF, xista science ventures and OCCIDENT, along with Slovenian investors, to invest €1.7 million.

The funding will enhance market readiness and accelerate process development for ReCatalyst’s next-generation proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell catalysts, which are expected to grow to a $45 billion market by 2030. With the race to ‘net-zero’, hydrogen and proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells will play a critical role in decarbonisation of both the energy and transport sectors. Fuel cells technology is expected to decarbonize heavier applications such as heavy-duty trucks, buses, trains, airplanes, ships, etc.

“The investment from a strong group of renowned international investors provides the company with crucial financial and operational support and positions it on a global scale. I take immense pride in the fact that we have transformed what was once a PhD research project into one of the most promising products in the market with substantial potential for future developments. While we have been successfully building our company with prestigious non-dilutive funding sources, we have now reached a stage where a more aggressive approach for growth has been absolutely critical in order to capitalize on the emerging hydrogen and catalysts market.” explained Tomaž Bizjak, CEO and co-founder of ReCatalyst.

However, at the core of each PEM fuel cell are still far too high quantities of precious and scarce platinum found in the electrocatalyst. This makes the technology expensive and difficult to mass produce. To solve this problem, ReCatalyst is developing a nano-tech platform to produce next-generation of intermetallic platinum-alloy PEM fuel cell catalysts with the core mission to enable an optimized usage of platinum group metals.

“Innovation is a crucial solution to address Europe’s raw materials gap and help achieve the net-zero agenda. The innovation community of EIT RawMaterials is a fundament for driving innovation in Critical Materials. We work together with many start-ups like Re-Catalyst, who are on the verge of bringing innovative, cutting-edge technologies onto the market.” underlines Bernd Schaefer, CEO; Managing Director of EIT RawMaterials.

Re-Catalyst is supported by EIT RawMaterials by the Accelerator programme. Check it out here

Find out more about Re-Catalyst